Nevada County picayune., 1887-05-11
HORTICULTURAL. 9
Economy of Time and Labor.

Economy or 1n'e anu Idoo''
 The level headed, calculating far mer. while careful to avoid waste and all unnecessary consumption of supplies and materials ot every kind. will also take care of minutes and muscle. "Time is money" and it may be added muscle is bread and meat. The writer has been farmer, practical farmer, nearly all his life, and is familiar with the "ways and means' of the farm. It may be said with conn
 dence that more value IS wasted on the farm in the form of time and muscle than i'll any other way. Not only is much time actually un- employed, but large amount of the labor performed during the time devote to labor is sadly mis- directed and unskilfully applied. And here the necessity for brain work is apparent. A farmer should use his intellectual powers in dl- recting the manual operations on the farm. The fundamental sci ence of arithmetic is very impor- tant part of the education of far. mer as well as of the business man. We are just now on the eve of another season of cultivation, and it behooves every farmer who expects to succeed to inquire closely into the best methods of performing all the operations of the farm. In the first place, not an acre sh ould be cultivated from which, under average conditions of seaso ns and circumstances, a fair percentage ofprofit on the in vestment in labor, fertilizers and superintendence may not be req sonxbly expected. The usual ad- vice, given to secure such reason able profit, is to fertilize, and 1t is sound, practical advice. But sup pose the fertilizer is not attaina ble. or the farmer declines further risk or investment in fertilizers, Then the alternative is, don't cul- tivate the acre or the field. What is the use of bestowing sweat and time and labor on d field, to the value of say one hundred dollars worth of crop? Is there any fun in the operations We can under stand and appreciate the pleasure that may be derived from the dai- ly contemplation of a luxuriously growth. and maturing crop, even though the expenses may we'll nigh consume the product (which IS rarely the easel, but If a farmer plants a field in a crop whose growth and cultivation and har. vesting affords no profit in money, no improvement to the soil, and no pleasure to the grower, where is the reason or common sense of such farming!
 The same reasoning may be ap- piled to the policy of growing par ticular crops with reference to the peculiar relation of the general cost of production and the market value of such crops-for instance, cotton. It has been repeatedly estimated that an average crop of cotton, under average conditions. costs approximately s l-2 cents per pound delivered in market. No sort of arithmetic can cipher ont a profit in growing cotton at a cost equal to the market price of the staple. As the market price cannot be increased at will, the only alternative is to produce cot ton at less cost, or quit planting it. There are many details of farm operations, in the performance of which valuable time may be saved and useless efforts be spared, It should be the business of a farmer to study how to secure the largest from given expenditure of time and effort. "DespiSe not the day of small things many mickle makes a muckle," take care of the minutes and the hours will take care ofthemselves." South ern Cultivator.
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